The Ending We All Wanted
by Kraven Ergeist
Summary: OneShot :: Wouldn't it have been so nice if Eva just had a happy ending?


**Evangelion Fan Fiction**

**The Ending We All Wanted**

By Kraven Ergeist

The land of the rising sun had never been more torn by war. In the past year, enough explosions had gone off on that tiny island to rival Hiroshima two thousand times over. In days of old, battles were fought with swords and lances, pikes and catapults. Then came guns. Ships. Missiles. Tanks. Jets. Bombs.

Then came the final chapter in warfare – Evangelions.

"Bastards!" Asuka's shrill cry blared as she ripped another Evangelion in two.

As modern as the weapons became, the human drive to kill and destroy was always the essential ingredient for any weapon to succeed. This was a fact that Asuka seemed to relish in.

"Last one!" she shouted, throwing a crippled white bio-mech into another, more whole one.

Though it did not stay whole for long.

SMASH!

And her fist went straight through them both.

Anger. Rage. Bloodlust. Asuka's mind was bubbling with murderous intent. These things were all that stood between her and victory. Once this battle ended, she would finally be free. Free of NERV. Free of Eva. Free of her own insanity.

But freedom came at a price.

"The Lance of…?"

And all at once, she was blind.

xxxxx

Shinji's heart stopped beating. What he was seeing couldn't be real. He wasn't seeing Asuka. He wasn't seeing her Eva. He had always known the girl to be fierce and powerful. He had expected her to be up there, fighting madly. All he had ever wanted was to let other people handle the difficulties of life, because he could never seem to get the hang of it. Every time he tried to do something, it always seemed to backfire. So, in a way, he depended on Asuka because she was the only one who knew how to do anything.

But the site that greeted his eyes was more than he could possibly take.

"…Asuka…."

He let out a primordial scream that echoed through his Eva's teeth, shaking the heavens with rage and terror.

It couldn't true.

Asuka was in pieces.

Her Eva was in bloody, dripping _pieces_!

And it was all his fault. Or at least, it was in his eyes. It didn't really matter. He was useless anyway. Maybe if he'd have made it out in time…maybe if he hadn't been such a baby about getting into his Eva…maybe if he wasn't so _worthless_…

Shinji felt a distant pain as the white devils bit into his Eva's wings, somehow conjured through his skyrocketing sync rate. But he didn't care. He cried for Asuka. He cried for Misato. For Rei. For Toji. For Kaworu.

He wailed in emotional agony, as life itself seemed to unwind. He somehow felt what was coming. He wanted it. He wanted to end it all so badly. Shinji let loose a stream of tears, as he waited - knowing it wouldn't be slow or easy - for death.

xxxxx

And death would have taken him. Him and everyone else in the world. Had it worked out the way SEELE wanted, that would have been the end to it all.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

But then Unit 02 came back to life.

"RARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Double mouths opened and released a cacophony of tyrannical howls of pain and fury. Unit 02 spasmed as flesh began to remold and bone began to reknit.

Asuka stopped bleeding and her face curved into a smile.

"I'm not out of this just yet, you _fuckers_…"

Shinji had always been the best because his Eva had been able to start without power. To act on its own. To even regenerate limbs.

Well if Shinji could do it, then there was no reason she couldn't too. Unit 01 had a mother's soul inside of it…and Asuka knew that hers had one as well.

She had willed her Eva to life once already. She could do it again.

Pieces of the other white Eva's began to slither and mold into the bleeding, gutted husk of the red giant, and slowly rebuild what had been torn and eaten away. Guts and juices reformed as pink flesh covered the Eva's innards, shining brightly where armor had been stripped. All four of Unit 02's eyes, now visible through the red and white mask, shone brightly, fully healed.

And then it cocked its head to the sky.

"Shinji…"

With a burst of speed, she rushed to the edge of the crater, and Unit 02 began to ascend the steep rock face. Asuka willed speed to her Eva's legs, and the bio-mech accelerated, careening up the ridge like a rocket, reaching the top in moments.

She kept running, putting ground between herself and the crater, before turning back to her target, upping her speed up another notch. Her Eva was running full tilt. If she'd had a long enough track, she might have split the sound barrier. But this was enough.

She reached the precipice and leaped into the air, sailing high in the sky towards the floating bauble of white Eva's, and more importantly, the single purple one they surrounded.

She reached out with her Eva's arms and barely managed to seize the legs of the lowermost bio-mech. Swinging haphazardly, she caught herself, and she began to scale the floating mass, grabbing onto arms, legs, wings and necks for handholds, climbing up the ladder of Eva's, one after another, until she reached the one at the center.

Asuka's eyes suddenly focused on the dormant eyes of his Unit.

"Shinji…"

Everything about what she was convinced her that he was dead.

"Baka!" she shouted, using her Eva's hands to seize the lance buried in his Eva's core. "Wake…UP!"

With a burst of strength, Asuka tugged with all her might until the lance pulled free of the core, resolidifying into its twin pronged corkscrew once more.

But still, the mass of white wings continued to beat.

"Bastards…" she growled at the soulless demons around her. "Let…him…_GO_!"

With a howl of triumph, she sunk the lance of Longinus into the nearest Mass Produced Eva she could reach.

Letting out a bloodcurdling scream, the white Eva released its hold on Unit 01's wing, flapping and flailing its wings and arms, desperately seeking purchase as it fell. Unit 02 planted its feet on the Eva's chest as the two of them plummeted back to Earth.

With a sickening crunch, they hit the ground, a cloud of ruble erupting in the impact, the lance sinking all the way into the Eva's chest.

Its snakelike head slumped over, dead.

Just like that, the remaining eight Evas released their captive, and scattered, leaving Unit 01 and Shinji to fall, tattered wings fluttering in the descent.

xxxxx

Shinji opened his eyes to see Unit 02 looking down at him, looking like a Valkyrie of sorts, holding the lance of Longinus like a staff, armor covering its chest and groin, but not much else. He almost distracted him from the much more important fact that her standing over him implied.

"Asuka…" he breathed. "You're…you're alive…"

Asuka's face appeared on his screen. Not angry, not sad, not happy, not anything. Just a neutral look of confirmation.

"We're not out of this yet, Shinji," she said, looking up. "Those _things_ are still up there."

Shinji breathed in sharply, before lowering his eyes, sighing in defeat.

"I can't do anything."

"What?" Asuka stared at Shinji, aghast. "We've got just one more battle to go, and you're ready to quit?"

Shinji shook his head. "I'll just mess everything up! I'll end up hurting more people! I'm useless, Asuka…I'm just a useless-"

Shinji suddenly felt two strong hands clutch his Eva's shoulders and bring him upright.

"When are you going to get _over_ yourself, Shinji!" Asuka demanded, setting his Eva on its feet.

As stunned as Shinji was, he almost fell back over.

"Every single god damned time you've shown me up, and you're trying to tell me that you can't _do anything_!" Asuka cried. "You've done better than any of us, Shinji! For the love of God, you're _not useless!_"

Shinji stared at Asuka's face, crying at the sincerity he saw in her eyes.

"Now get off your lazy ass and help me, god damn it!" she blared. "I can't beat these things on my own! This lance seems to do the trick, but I need your wings. The only way we're winning this is if we both fight together. Now stop crying like a baby, and help me, Shinji!"

Shinji gave her a withered look. "Asuka-"

"I _need_ your help, god damnit!" Asuka screamed, angrily. "I _can't_ do this without you!"

Shinji hesitated, knowing what was expected of him, but not knowing if he was even capable of it. Shinji kept thinking back to all the times he'd thought he could do anything. All the times he'd failed.

Had he not tried hard enough? Had luck simply not been in his favor? How could he vest himself into something where the outcome was so haphazard? How could he possibly place his faith into a destiny that was so uncertain?

He looked Asuka square in the eye.

He saw all the assurance that he needed.

Maybe he couldn't count on himself.

But he could count on his friends.

And that would be enough.

"Maybe…" Shinji tried to smile through his tear soaked face. "Maybe you just might have enough strength for both of us…"

Asuka smiled as Shinji finally stood on his own two feet, and Unit 01 turned its head to the sky and extended its wings unto the heavens.

xxxxx

They fell.

Like shreds of paper, they fell.

Torn from the heavens, the last of the Eva's fell to earth, their useless wings fighting for purchase as their fate climbed ever closer, until each of them became lost in the impact of their own demise.

Asuka stood below, watching them fall, grinning as her final task lay accomplished, the Lance of Longinus dripping with the blood of her enemies. But for the first time, she didn't care. Now, she could finally lay her arms to rest.

And in the air still was the purple giant of Shinji's Eva, his glowing orange wings keeping it aloft as its pilot stared at the carnage below, catching his breath.

A breath that was soon torn from its body.

"…Rei?"

The giant of white rose from the Earth, raising its eyes to the floatig purple beadt. Shinji cringed as the girl he used to know was suddenly fixing him with her piercing gaze, her crimson eyes a ghoulish blood red, her face a sick smile of celestial pleasure.

Shinji opened his mouth to scream. But not a sound came out.

xxxxx

Asuka stared up in disbelief.

"Shinji…? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Asuka received no answer and didn't notice, as the giant of white rose from the Earth, it's humanly guise strikingly similar to the girl she used to work with. She watched as it rose to eye level the boy she used to hate. Clutching her bloodied lance, she cursed at the sky.

"Shinji! Don't!"

But before her words could reach him, the Goddess of Life was reaching towards her child, taking hold of her prey, clutching it warmly to her breast.

"Shinji!"

In an instant, the boy was absorbed into the light.

xxxxx

He was lost in a sea of warmth. Swimming through the lifeblood of Lillith, Shinji tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

Reality?

Illusions?

Memories?

Dreams?

What were these images that came flooding past him? Where did this torrent of emotion and light come from? Why was he being shown these images?

War.

Murder.

Corruption.

Sin.

Was she looking for some kind of purpose?

What was humanity's purpose?

Why did humanity weave such instruments of destruction?

What purpose did it serve that such horrors be released as a result?

Shinji sped past the flood of ghosts, of evils, of demons, searching desperately for a way to end this madness. If this creature wanted some kind of answer, she wasn't going to find it by looking at the past. But if it didn't find an answer…

Oh God…

Shinji redoubled his efforts, as he frantically searched for a way in, a way out, a way to reverse what could not be stopped. If humanity's purpose did not warrant all these horrid things he saw flying past, then it would end. As simple as that.

Shinji swam on.

"Ayanami!" he screamed out as he saw her form floating lifelessly. Dreams and illusions floated around her like bubbles, her eyes closed in blissful slumber as she drifted.

Shinji swam against a current of past and present, screams of laughter and anguish ringing in his ears, tears of blood and joy running down their faces.

"Ayanami!" he screamed once again.

And then he saw the gods.

Glowing giants of light, their arms spread wide as they weaved their symphony of rebirth. They seemed to take no heed as the boy struggled to take hold of Rei's prone form, but when he finally thought he had reached her, they suddenly took shape.

From behind everything arose two forms. The faces of Kaworu and Rei attached to enormous bodies of light smiled at him, before taking them into their arms.

Shinji felt their warm embrace and smiled with them. He had never known rapture as to be enveloped by such light. Their touch felt like kisses of passion, their warmth spilling over like a maelstrom of care and affection.

Shinji's eyes flew open.

No.

This was not Kaworu.

This was not Rei.

This was Adam and Lilltih

He saw them for what they were. He saw their intentions. He saw that they wanted nothing more than to recycle the DNA and rebuild life anew. And in the process, humanity would fall.

"Ayanami!" he screamed out, and finally he saw her where he had last seen her, floating amidst the pool of memories. He reached out for her, but the overwhelming strength of Adam and Lillith continued to drag him away from her.

"Ayanami!"

Rei's form remained pallid and motionless.

"Ayanami, please!"

Slowly, Rei's eyes drifted open. "Ikari?"

"Ayanami!" he called out to her, desperately. "You can't let this happen! You can't!"

Rei stared at the boy, emotionlessly.

"You have to stop it, Ayanami!" Shinji cried out. "Please! Or everything will disappear!"

Rei's face remained staunch.

"I don't want this world to end!" Shinji screamed. "So please! Stop it, Ayanami! Please!"

Rei's mouth formed into words.

"Why? Why do you wish for this world to continue, Shinji? This life has brought you nothing but hardships and sadness. This path will allow an escape from life, a means to end all the pain that you feel. Why? Why do you wish to remain in this world of hatred and suffering?"

Shinji's eyes clenched shut. "I don't _know_! I don't _know_ why I want to live! Every day, life just seems to get worse! Every day, I wake up wondering why I should get out of bed! Every day, I go to sleep, dreading the next morning! Every day, I just wish that it would end!"

"Then why?"

"I don't know why!" he screamed, tears streaming down his face. "I just don't want it to go away! This world may be hard, but it's all I've got! Every time I run away…I always end up coming back! Because there's nowhere else for me to go! And…even thought they hurt me…even though I keep running away from them…I still love them! I still want to be with them!"

Rei's eyes widened.

"Don't make them disappear, Rei!" Shinji cried. "I may not want to live…but I don't want _them_ to die!"

As Shinji shook and whimpered in the shackles of Adam and Lillith's grip, Rei slowly approached the boy. She watched his heaving, sobbing form, taking his face in her hands.

Slowly, his eyes opened, and the tears still came streaming down his face. Sniveling and weeping, he looked helpless and desperate, shaking with grief, fury and fear.

The faintest of smiles appeared on Rei's face.

xxxxx

_Three months later__…_

Shinji had to admit, Misato looked pretty good in a wedding dress.

He tugged at his collar, resisting the urge to scratch himself, as he sat between an equally uncomfortable looking Asuka and a completely calm looking Rei, both of them in a fancy red and blue dress respectively. The three of them were seated in the front row, watching as Misato stepped up the aisle, an impeccably dressed (and for once, clean shaved) Kaji waiting at the altar.

Two months after the UN had attacked, NERV had officially closed down. Shortly after, Misato had disappeared for about a week, returning home with an engagement ring and a smile. Asuka had been practically beside herself when she learned that Kaji had faked his own death, and then just as quickly threw a tantrum when she learned that he had proposed to Misato.

Asuka's envy had gone from lime to a pale green over the months, but Shinji had a feeling that she was hardly done seething.

"…I mean, at least I'll get to live with him, but what good is living together if you don't get to…"

Shinji honestly wondered if this makeshift family would hold together under that much stress, but Misato had been adamant about it. Her entire mood had gone up since it happened.

"A near death experience will do that to you," she had explained with a wink, mere days after the kids had found the hospital she had been staying at.

"Technically, you _did_ die," Rei had replied simply. "The doctors said they had deliver an electric shock to restart your heart."

"Thank you, Rei," Misato chuckled nervously. "I only got a _few_ gray hairs thinking about it."

"Glad I could help," Rei replied, still unfazed.

Asuka and Shinji exchanged glances.

"Did Wondergirl just make a joke?"

"I think she did."

It was all in nervously good humor. The most Asuka had been able to recall after Shinji disappeared was seeing the giant of light going brighter than the sun, squinting away, before blacking out. After waking up, she recalled being on the ground, her Eva (and her plug suit) nowhere in sight. Section Two had found her, Shinji and Rei all lying naked on the bedrock of the Geo-Front before whisking them off to the hospital, where they learned what had transpired.

The UN had seized control over NERV, but according to Kaji, the UN was no longer a threat. When asked why, he would only wink and say, "The puppet masters have been dealt with." Most of the NERV staff had made it out alive. Matoko, Shigeru and Maya had all moved to Tokyo-2 afterwards. Gendo, Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko were given quiet funerals. As for the Eva's, Unit 02 and all the mass-produced corpses, as well as all the plug suits, which seemed to have disappeared with the Angels, were never seen again.

One month after that, Asuka's temper had cooled, and Misato and Kaji signed the legal adoption papers for Shinji, Rei, and Asuka. After working out the litigations from Shinji and Asuka's former adoptive parents, the family moved to a nicely sized house out in the suburbs of Tokyo-3. It took some getting used to, but once everyone had moved in, the whole family packed up and drove out to Tokyo-2, where the wedding would be taking place.

Rei watched, Shinji smiled and Asuka gritted her teeth as the two adults exchanged vows. Shinji couldn't help but feel happy for some reason. While this whole ordeal could only entail a good four more years of insanity, he somehow felt good about it. It certainly trumped the alternative.

Shinji glanced at Asuka, who nodded in his direction, before returning her gaze to the front of the chapel. It had been her strength that had given him the will to stand up. If she hadn't have been there, he knew he would have simply rolled over and let it happen. If not for her influence, the whole world would be facing nothingness.

Shinji turned his eyes to Rei, who briefly met his gaze, before turning back to the events at the altar. He wasn't sure if she remembered the ordeal that had transpired within the giant of white, but whenever she spoke, telling him that she didn't know, Shinji could swear he saw that same, brief smile that she had given him.

It almost broke his heart to think he had almost been willing to throw it all away. To think that he had almost given up on everyone and everything, when such an alternative lay just a breath away.

Shinji supposed, deep down inside, he was nothing but a pathetic weakling. But really, when you got down to it, so was the rest of humanity. Beneath us all lies a scared, helpless child, trembling at the thought of taking another step, of braving another day, of facing our lives.

But for the sake of others…

Asuka had risen to aid him during his greatest crisis.

Rei had put a stop to impact in light of his crying plea.

And Shinji himself had refused to give up on humanity, not for his own sake, but for theirs.

Shinji slid his hands into Rei and Asuka's. Half expecting Rei to do nothing and Asuka to stomp on his foot, Shinji was surprised when both of them squeezed his hands in return. A look into each of their eyes spoke of trust and compassion, each in their own way.

Perhaps they will have each gained something from all this. They were family now, but they had been beyond family since the beginning. It was only fitting that they be together after the fate of the world had been decided. They had each played their part, and now it was time for them to live their lives.

And as the church bells rang into the heavens, their little family paraded out of the chapel, ready to face whatever life threw at them, confident that they would survive.

After all, they had each other.

And that would be enough.

xxxxx

A/N: Ok, so it may not have been the ending we _all_ wanted, but I think it satisfied all those fans that were looking for a happy ending. This was originally supposed to be the ending for "The Hero of Evangelion," but that whole fic got taken down when Draco Delphinus got booted. And after receiving countless reviews complaining about how it didn't deviate enough from the original plot, I was reluctant to put it back up.

But then I went back over the ending in my head, and realized that with a bit of tinkering, I could post it as a one shot on its own, I decided to go ahead.

Take this as fluff, take this as serious, take this as however you want. Just enjoy.


End file.
